Christian Olsson

Christian Olsson (born 25 January 1980 in Gothenburg) is a former Swedish athlete competing in high jump and triple jump. He won an Olympic gold medal,[1] one gold and one silver medal in the World Championships and two gold medals in the European Championships as well as a further two golds in the World Indoor championships. He also won the overall IAAF Golden League jackpot in 2004 where he cashed in 500,000 US dollars (after splitting the million dollar pot with Tonique Williams-Darling).

Christian Olsson

Christian Olsson during the European Team Championships in Budapest, Hungary in June 2010
Personal information
Full name	John Christian Bert Olsson
Born	25 January 1980 Gothenburg, Sweden
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 ^1⁄2 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
Country	Sweden
Event(s)	Triple jump, High jump
Club	Örgryte IS
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	17.79 m 17.83 m (indoors)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 1 0 0 World Championships 1 1 0 World Indoor Championships 2 0 0 European Championships 2 0 0 European Indoor Championships 1 0 0 Total 7 1 0 Olympic Games 2004 Athens Triple jump World Championships 2003 Paris Triple jump 2001 Edmonton Triple jump World Indoor Championships 2003 Birmingham Triple jump 2004 Budapest Triple jump European Championships 2002 Munich Triple jump 2006 Gothenburg Triple jump European Indoor Championships 2002 Vienna Triple jump

From 2007 to his retirement in 2012, he was beset by injuries which left him largely on the sidelines and unable to compete at top level competitions.[2]

Biography

Olsson had his international breakthrough in 2001 when he won silver at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics. He has the Swedish national record outdoors, 17.79 m (2004 Summer Olympics), and the Swedish national record indoors, 17.83 m (2004). Olsson has won the Swedish Championships seven times, and has also competed successfully on national level in high jumping.

On 7 March 2004, at the 2004 World Indoor Championships in Athletics, he jumped 17.83 m and matched the World Record. On 23 August 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he jumped 17.79 m, broke the national record and won the gold medal. Four of his six jumps were longer than the silver medalist's best jump.

With the Olympic Gold he completed a rare international sweep, having the Olympic, World Indoor, Outdoor, Regional (European) Indoor and Outdoor titles.

Olsson first became interested in triple jump after watching Jonathan Edwards set the world record at the World Championships in his hometown Gothenburg. Since 1999, Olsson has been trained by Yannick Tregaro. Before that, Olsson was trained by Viljo Nousiainen.

During the autumn and winter 2004/2005 he injured his foot (an injury originating from the 2004 Olympic Final), preventing him from being able to do triple-jumping at full speed. Unfortunately the injury has healed very slowly, and it was still in January 2006 hampering him. In his first competition after the injury, in June 2006, he jumped 17.09 and seem to be back into shape.[3] A month later he won the gold medal at European Championships in his hometown Gothenburg, with a jump of 17.67 m.

At the beginning of the 2007 indoor season, Olsson was injured yet again, and was unable to compete at the European indoor championships.[4][5]

Olsson returned to competition in June at the IAAF Golden League event in Oslo, jumping 17.33 m. In July, he won Golden League event in Paris with 17.56 m.[6] At the Golden League event in Rome, he retired after the second round due to a cramp.[7]

Olsson went to the 2007 World Championships in Athletics but had to pull out before the competition due to an injury during training.[8]

After almost one year of rehabilitation, he returned to competition in July 2008 at the annual event in Stockholm, "DN Galan", but had to pull out due to injury. Afterwards, he announced that he will not compete anymore during the 2008 season; as such he will not participate at the Beijing Olympics. He also suggested that he may retire form the sport.[9][10] Upon a request from the Swedish Olympic team, Olsson agreed to carry the Swedish flag during the opening ceremony.

In July 2009 Olsson made a comeback in a minor event arranged by Örgryte IS in Gothenburg. He then jumped 17.24 m.[11]

On 3 August 2009 Olsson competed in Swedish Championships in Malmö. He won the competition with a jump at 16.72 m. This was the first competition Olsson failed to reach 17 m or more since he jumped in a competition in Birmingham in 2003.[12]

On 14 May 2012 Olsson ultimately declared his intentions to retire from professional triple jump competitions.[13]

Christian currently lives in Monaco with his girlfriend Gordana Bosanac.

Competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Sweden
1999	European Junior Championships	Riga, Latvia	1st	High jump	2.21 m
			2nd	Triple jump	16.18 m
2000	European Indoor Championships	Ghent, Belgium	22nd (q)	Triple jump	15.95 m
	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	17th (q)	Triple jump	16.64 m
2001	European U23 Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	1st	Triple jump	17.24 m (wind: -0.8 m/s)
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	2nd	Triple jump	17.47 m
	Goodwill Games	Brisbane, Australia	2nd	Triple jump	16.85 m
2002	European Indoor Championships	Vienna, Austria	1st	Triple jump	17.54 m
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	1st	Triple jump	17.53 m
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	1st	Triple jump	17.70 m
	World Championships	Paris, France	1st	Triple jump	17.72 m
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	1st	Triple jump	17.83 m
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	1st	Triple jump	17.79 m
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	Triple jump	17.67 m
2010	World Indoor Championships	Doha, Qatar	4th	Triple jump	17.23 m
2011	European Indoor Championships	Paris, France	5th	Triple jump	17.20 m
	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	6th	Triple jump	17.23 m

Other victories

Triple jump

• 2001: Helsinki (Grand Prix) - 17.08 m; Vaasa (European Cup first league) - 17.00 m; Rethymno (athletics meet) - 17.49 m
• 2002: Athens (Grand Prix) - 17.40 m; Seville (European Cup first league) - 17.63 m; Monaco (IAAF Golden League) - 17.63 m; Berlin (Golden League) - 17.40 m; Paris (Grand Prix Final) - 17.48 m
• 2003: Lappeenranta (European Cup first league) - 17.38 m; Rethymno (athletics meet) - 17.55 m; Gateshead (Grand Prix) - 17.92(w) m; Stockholm (Grand Prix) - 17.36 m; Monaco (World Athletics Final) - 17.55 m
• 2004: Turin (Grand Prix) - 17.61 m; Bergen (Golden League) - 17.58 m; Bydgoszcz (European Cup super league) - 17.30 m; Gateshead (Grand Prix) - 17.43 m; Rome (Golden League) - 17.50 m; Paris Saint-Denis (Golden League) - 17.41 m; Zürich (Golden League) - 17.46 m; Brussels (Golden League) - 17.44 m; Berlin (Golden League) - 17.45 m; Monaco (World Athletics Final) - 17.66 m
• 2006: Prague (European Cup super league) - 17.40 m; Lausanne (Grand Prix) - 17.62 m; London (Grand Prix) - 17.42 m; Zürich (Golden League-meet) - 17.39 m
• 2007: Vaasa (European Cup first league) - 17.33 m; Paris Saint-Denis (Golden League) - 17.56 m; Rome (Golden League) - 17.19 m

International awards

• Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2004
• Waterford Crystal European Athlete of the Year Trophy 2003

Personal bests

• Triple jump
  • Indoor - 17.83 metres
  • Outdoor - 17.79 metres
• High jump - 2.28 metres
• Long jump - 7.71 metres

References

1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Christian Olsson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2016-12-04.
2. Turner, Chris (16 January 2010). Robles vs Oliver; Olsson returns after three years to Stockholm. IAAF. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
3. Christian Olsson is back! IAAF, 13 June 2006. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
4. Knee injury in training causes Olsson’s withdrawal IAAF. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
5. Holm takes Swedish title, as two clear 2.38m on first attempts, and then try 2.40m! IAAF. 25 February 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
6. Four continue to reign in Paris - IAAF Golden League IAAF. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
7. Perry and Powell pre-eminent in Rome – IAAF Golden League IAAF. 13 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
8. Christian Olsson injured – No World Championships Archived 24 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine IAAF, 21 August 2007
9. Powell dips to beat Bolt; Defar just short of 5000m World record - IAAF World Athletics Tour, Stockholm IAAF. 22 July 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
10. "The Olympics are gone, the whole season is gone" European Athletics, 23 July 2008.
11. Anders Lindblad (24 July 2009). "Sensationell comeback av Christian Olsson" [Sensational comeback of Christian Olsson] (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2019.
12. Svenska Dagbladet paper issue 4 August 2009.
13. PeO Larsson; Jim Jaber (14 May 2012). "Olsson slutar" [Olsson quits]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 October 2019.

External links

• Christian Olsson at World Athletics
• Christian Olsson at European Athletics
• Christian Olsson at Olympedia
• Christian Olsson at the International Olympic Committee
• Christian Olsson at the Olympic Channel
• BBC Sports Article - (2004 Summer Olympics)
• BBC Sports Article - (2003 World Championships in Athletics)